HL-2 Playability

[Soldato]

I have decided to upgrade the old comp because this thing is pretty bad with new games. So I have decided to set HL2 as a playability benchmark and have been scoping out parts. This is what I have decided on so far.

AMD Athlon 64 2800+(1.8GHz)
1gig DDR
Most likely Radeon 9800
Maxtor 40gig Drive
Not sure about Mobo, still looking

...can I expect good results from this set-up or no? I dont need to be high performance with settings on really high with high resolution. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Dead-Inside]

Okay first of all, why are you even asking this. There's already "recommended" topics all over the place (Or at least you'd find them if you were looking).

Secondly, there is a hardware forum, you know.

And thridly, indeed, you'll be running HL2 fine.

 

[Soldato]

I realize there is already set requirements for HL, but the game runs on computers with specs that are different and was just wondering if these specs would do the trick. Thnx for the reply tho.

 

[diluted]

You should be able to run it on High settings without any problems

 

[Sucky Ducky]

You should be able to run it on High settings without any problems

I have that exact system, but a way better video card (Geforce 6800), yet half the memory.. And on lowest settings possible, I get about 40-70 fps, although it drops lower... =/

 

[Ownzed]

It should run alright. Not too good, not too bad.

 

[Sid Burn]

well, its worth a try... though my PC is weaker than yours... HL2 runs good on semi-high settings. so... HL2 should be working in ur PC.

 

[Soldato]

Well, looks like the only way is to just try it out. Thanks for the help... Wish me luck.

 

[LostBok]

what screen u using?

reason I ask is it will determine what res you want to run....

I reckon you'd be better off with the Radeon 9800 Pro.... my spec is pretty good for 1024x768 all the eye candy on, but no FSAA.... CPU is FLAT OUT the whole time though.... I want to do my gaming at 1600x1200 'cos that's the optimal res for my TFT, but I have to tone down the eye candy to do that (textures, models and shadows on medium, reflections and filters still on high).

 

[oni_666]

Also get a bigger hard drive, 40gb is nothing these days.
You ideally need a minimum of 80gb.
Or get a seagate barracuda 200gb IDE for about £70 or so, its a good,fast drive with lots of room for the future.

 

[Washuu]

200gb is alot... If you are just starting out, 40gb is fine, just expect to buy a 80-120 later on. People who download lots and lots of videos and music are the only who use 200gb, unless you like to keep every PC game you ever owned installed.

 

[LostBok]

economies of scale: 120Gb doesn;t cost THAT much more than a 40Gb or 80Gb....

 

[Asus]

And those 40gb drives are sometimes 5400 RPM (Seagate). Gasp!
Just check.

 

[oni_666]

200gb is alot... If you are just starting out, 40gb is fine, just expect to buy a 80-120 later on. People who download lots and lots of videos and music are the only who use 200gb, unless you like to keep every PC game you ever owned installed.

I beg to differ.
Part of the reason for having a larger drive, is the ability to back up your whole O/S install and programs, games, etc, onto a separate partition.
Buy a 40gb HD, and when windows eventually goes belly up, And believe me when I say that if you get a nasty virus or trojan it can happen,You can and proably will lose everything and have to re-install and/or format.
With a 200gb split into several partitions All you do, is re-install from the separate partition.
Do this and you lose nothing.
There are programs that work through DOS, to enable you to format your main C: partiton and re-install the saved backup on your D: partition, without you having to re-install.
Norton Ghost works like this.
Having a separate partition can be a life saver, Even if windows die's you still won't lose anything if you do it right.